Heart and Soul

by
John D. Morris, Ph.D.

“And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book.” (2 Kings 23:3)

Our Lord cries from heaven, “O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them” (Deuteronomy 5:29)! We can respond as did the hymn writer in verse five of “Take My Life and Let It Be” by devoting our all to Him.

Take my will and make it Thine,
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own,
It shall be Thy royal throne.

The words will, heart, mind, soul, and emotions are used somewhat interchangeably in Scripture, but certainly they speak of every aspect of our innermost thoughts and being. As we draw near to Him, “the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul” (Deuteronomy 30:6). “Take diligent heed,” Moses charged Joshua, “to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Joshua 22:5).

The primary way we can show that we love Him is to obey Him as King, putting Him on the throne of our lives, as it were. “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me” (John 14:21). And then, His presence will be manifested in our ministry to others. JDM